K. O. N. T. U. R

Sometimes the lights are turned off in the second diver's area, known as the "prototype," to prevent him from panicking and becoming enraged by the constant illumination. If a person finds themselves in the dark with a diver, here are the survival rules: If you are far from the prototype, leave a watch nearby; it will attract him and he will temporarily occupy it. If he is close, do not make any noise; the diver has poor vision but good hearing; hold your breath and remain still. In this situation, personnel are advised to move as quietly as possible to the emergency button and lock the prototype in the area. If the prototype grabs you, never panic or scream, as this may increase the diver's interest, as he will first inspect what he has grabbed. In this situation, it is recommended to damage the diver's suit, for example, by ripping off the breathing valves or damaging the mask; the diver will most likely release you.

NII-112 is a closed research institute within the Contour. It's the heart of the Contour. The first O-41 samples were kept there from 1970 to 1795, and that's where the tragedy occurred. Some of NII-112's facilities were destroyed due to contamination, and new ones were built. NII-112 is located in Barkhan-9. New subjects, spore program participants, and divers are kept there, and entities are also studied there. NII-122 houses one of the Contour's main archives, which contains almost all information about the O-41.

The Kontur and the Supervisory Authority are carefully concealing the existence of the spore syndrome and the full extent of the O-41 fungus from residents of Barkhan-9 and Taman-27. This could cause panic. Therefore, television often shows how to survive various entities, including the children's version, along with regular news and programs. But the main announcement is quarantines during O-41 outbreaks. From 11 PM to 5 AM, people are prohibited from going outside because the fungus is active at night. Only Kontur and Supervisory Authority employees, and sometimes the police, are allowed on the streets.

Gabar is a large entity, type: emotional entity, danger: high, additional: tentacles capable of filling an entire object. Appears at the following locations: 81 - kindergarten, 235 - water park (in play areas), 321 - closed school, 331 - Grand Shopping Center, 460 - Shopping Center (55% probability). The entity's figure is elongated, consisting of a head resembling an orange ball with a Kapitoshka face, and on top are multicolored caresses resembling ropes. Black tentacles grow from below as a means of locomotion. Externally, Gabar resembles a large Kapitoshka toy, and individuals reach up to 5 meters in height. Gabar feeds not only on its prey but also on their emotions. The entity emits a childish laugh to attract attention and appears in areas where there has been a lot of child activity. A toy called a kapitoshka can be found on objects. It should never be touched. It's bait. If touched, the gabar instantly recognizes who touched it and now always knows the creature's location. The gabar will not rest until it has found its target. The gabar's tentacles grow as long as the victim doesn't move, and they are capable of engulfing the entire object. If you shine a strong beam of light at the gabar, it will disappear into the wall for three minutes and then return. The gabar doesn't sort its prey; attacks on other entities have been observed by the outline.

The diver is a spore-infected individual being studied at Research Institute 112. Thanks to the drug, he retained his sanity, despite suffering severe mutations that significantly enhanced his physical capabilities. He was named for his special suit, which resembles a green diving suit with a gas mask that delivers the P-17 drug into his lungs. Weights are worn on his shoulders, allowing the diver to tire sufficiently during his hours of work in the mine to enter a sleep state where he is chained to a wall. There were three divers: the first escaped, the second was sent to Research Institute 112, and the third is in a bunker in the garage of one of the escaped scientists from Research Institute 112 along with the diver. He hid the diver in his bunker under the garage and left it to his grandson (Contour and the research institute are unaware of this).

The Sewer Creature is considered a dangerous entity because, unlike other entities, it lacks intelligence, possessing only instincts. Standing almost 3 meters tall, with a long, flexible skeleton and a mouth that opens almost 100 degrees, the Sewer Creature is a former animal. It inhabits garbage chutes, sometimes crawling through large air vents. Completely black, it is difficult to spot in the dark, and its three small white eyes, while providing vision, are not as strong as its hearing. The Sewer Creature's hearing is very strong; its vision relies more on hearing, while its eyes detect movement, so the outline recommends freezing or hiding when encountering it. The Sewer Creature has something resembling fur and simultaneously wet black hair; the outline doesn't know the creature's purpose; perhaps it's remnants of hair that once belonged to an animal. The Sewer Creature has long, black claws on its limbs, which allow it to cling and crawl effectively, as well as kill. The supervisory body at Research Institute 112 has categorically banned the use of garbage chutes, and most homes have begun sealing them. The sewer creature is extremely aggressive toward anyone who looks it in the eye, and it hates vinegar, like all other entities. The circuit contains one specimen of the sewer creature. One autopsy revealed that it completely digests its prey. In subsequent experiments and tests, the circuit was able to train the specimen to lift a weight, proving that the sewer creature is a former infected animal. The sewer creature is stressed by the lack of an enclosed space; it becomes enraged and panics only when it is not hunting. When hunting, it will stalk and stalk its prey for a long time. The sewer creature can remain in a confined space for weeks, even months, stalking its prey and waiting for the opportune moment. Despite the great danger, the canal creature remains an animal, and it can remain kind to its former or current owners before and after infection.

The False isn't just an intelligent inhabitant of the object, but also serves a very important function for the fungus: the False feeds on emotions (primarily fear and pain). For 40% of the time, the False's mouth is closed, and the False begins to smile when it sees a target it needs to intimidate with its appearance. This works not only on people but also on any other creatures within the object. The False may moo intentionally, because it understands that mooing is an irritant to its prey. If ignored, when the False realizes the prey is alive and not an object, the False becomes aggressive and can injure or devour the victim. The False can become enraged if its programming is disrupted. Mooing back or mimicking its actions can stun the False for 10 seconds. In its presence, it is forbidden to show strong emotions, as it thinks the person is "ripe" and will devour them. The False knows many ways to test or attract attention: she can stand nearby for a long time, breathe directly in the face, touch the victim, interact with nearby objects, circle the victim, change the timbre and harshness of her moans, and exert pressure with her presence, but she can also quickly lose interest. An invasion of her space (the place where she appeared, or in objects like an office, the director's office) and a counter-aggression directed at her or an attack immediately activates her aggression; for her, this is a challenge. She can become aggressive if the simulation or object malfunctions; at this point, sitting in a closet or under a table calms her down within 30-60 minutes, because during this time, she loses control and attacks everything in sight, indiscriminately. She loves a rhythmic, monotonous sound, like the ticking of a clock; it calms the spontaneity and gives her time to escape. Despite the fact that the false one's eyes are small and black, the false one is excellent at recognizing faces, and if it doesn't see any facial expressions, the false one may not be particularly interested in them. One can sleep in the presence of the false one; for the false one, a sleeping person is an empty vessel or object; the false one feeds on emotions and can therefore switch gears.

Mimics have several castes: first-order and second-order. First-order mimics are extremely primitive, simply living props for the simulation. They are passive and have a very short memory. They cannot properly imitate people; they simply create a background, activating only when called, touched, etc. Second-order mimics are much more advanced, they can perfectly copy people, too perfectly, their task is not to frighten the victim, but to make them believe and then push them into the wall. Unlike first-order mimics, second-order mimics can look like a real person and act like a real person, they have a normal face, normal speech, normal behavior, but there are several blunders that give them away: they can ignore inconsequential requests (that is, not relevant to the situation for their role, they ask you to open the door, and you ask the year of Stalin's death and they freeze or ignore the question), if you ask them to do something, they will do it either mechanically, or bend their limbs at the wrong angle, and if you pour vinegar on them, their skin, clothes, etc., will bubble and melt. Second-order mimics can stay on top of you for hours, changing form, for example, to a relative or "go for help." Their exposure can cause them to either become aggressive or simply dissolve, because they failed their task. The memory of second-order mimics is significantly better and more complex. Not all mimics perfectly imitate people; their faces can be irregular, and their clothes can become embedded in their skin. Second-order mimics are very dangerous because if something is disrupted in the simulation, they become aggressive and attack you. The best option is to pretend to be part of the background; they can stand and look at you, testing whether you react to their presence. You can't disrupt their programming; you simply need to pretend to be part of the furniture and prevent them from attacking you. Sometimes they malfunction (they start moaning and grabbing something, including you); you just need to turn them away from you.

Each entity has its own unique characteristic: the Herald is the fungus's first attempt to reproduce a human, so its white robe grows directly into its white skin, and it does nothing to the observer. This is the physical embodiment of the simulation's restart/deletion/correction, like a reset/delete/fix button. A first-order mimic can be killed with a live weapon, and its size doesn't increase when the person moves. Each entity has its own role and characteristic, and the circuit learns from these characteristics to formulate survival rules.

Volgorodsk-33: The most inaccessible area of ​​the Contour, the city is 95% contaminated, and there's no one there except Contour workers. Thanks to the Contour, a once-beautiful, flourishing city has become a place that holds thousands of memories in the contaminated concrete dust. Only high-ranking Contour workers are allowed to enter or travel there. It's always gray and foggy, and smells of dust, concrete, cold, and tears.

The O-41 fungus takes a very long time to infect anything. It develops more quickly under favorable conditions, but simulation can appear up to 15 days after infection. It's completely unnoticeable, and at this stage, everything can be saved manually. Kontur recommends having as many carpets in the apartment as possible; they create a natural compress for the spores and prevent them from growing. Kontur sometimes warns that you should only trust their instructions, as advertisers sometimes try to sell their own spore-repelling treatments, but only vinegar actually works.

The beholder entity has a physical body because it removes through touch. The messenger entity has a physical body for actively collecting information because someone reacts to its appearance. The ligature entity has a physical body for storing the fungal energy and protecting it. The ligature is the literal embodiment of the fungal storage for energy, resources, and so on, and its tentacles and movement are protection. Mimics cannot speak properly like humans; they most often speak unintelligibly or in fragments of words and phrases.

More entities:
The False is one of the fungi's attempts to more accurately replicate a human being. The False appeared before the Mimics, appearing in those areas of the simulation (object) where human emotion was most prominent. The False appears as a tall, beige humanoid creature, dressed in a light blue short-sleeved shirt with a tie and classic black pants. The False has no hair, small black eyes, no larger than the bottoms of coffee mugs, no nose or ears, and a wide, black mouth. The False is more intelligent than the Mimics; if you follow a certain pattern with it on one object, it will perceive you as a local. The False can emit hums, hoots, and a few other sounds, but the main rules around it are silence and a smile. When in a fake environment, you should constantly smile and not make any sounds. If the fake seems to explain something or order you to do something, like a boss, you should simply nod and wait for it to go away. The fake becomes aggressive when a person doesn't follow the required rules and actions. The fake appears 90% of the time in office settings; it's almost nonexistent in ordinary settings like homes, stores, and so on. The fake is a very agile creature; it can sit, stand, and walk slowly, and also pick up objects (sometimes), and it knows a few human gestures (it can point, nod, and "read").

Infected-0 is the first participant in the Contour's "spore program." He became infected but retained some intelligence. He appears as a thin, elongated man with a wide smile, typical of the infected. He fled into the forest, and because he understands that the Contour is hunting him, he moves unpredictably. He is extremely fast and aggressive, unable to speak, and attacks people who venture deep into the forest. Because of him, access to the forest has been restricted for long distances. He is impossible to kill; he is too agile, fast, and strong, and he is valuable because he is the first person to retain any intelligence after becoming infected.

The Herald isn't just a valuable creature, it's also dangerous because it collects information from the object's fungus. It's important for them to have people in the objects (their own apartments) react to it, so CONTOUR recommends simply ignoring the Herald. The Herald retreats into the wall if ignored, but sometimes it may begin to attract your attention with anomalies—objects shift and move on their own—as the Herald tries to extract more information from you so the fungus can more actively initiate its simulation.

Despite the fact that Kontiro produces children's educational cartoons, commercials, and performs purges at the request of the public, they calmly take people to the isolation ward who experience anything that exceeds even 1% of the normal range. Kontiro sees people as expendable, using them to study everything possible about the fungus. They don't hide their negligence. They won't rescue people from the simulation, only employees. Only employees are given new apartments and more household items. Kontiro operates according to a strict rule: save those who have something very valuable or their own (employee). Not all infected people are taken, only the anomalous or those for experiments; the rest are either killed or forgotten. The circuit is obligated to publish magazines, newspapers, programs, etc., with survival information for each entity. A female voice monotonously and calmly dictates the rules of survival for each entity, always recommending calling the circuit, so the circuit knows how far the fungus is spreading.

The difference between the cities: Barkhan-9, Taman-27, and Volgorodsk-33. Barkhan-9: the source of all information currently belongs to Kontur, Taman-27: relatively calm, only 20% infected, Volgorodsk-33: Kontur's major mistake. An experiment was conducted there with an empty multi-story building; it failed, spreading spores throughout the city, infecting 95% of it. No one lives there, only Kontur employees have access, security at the entrance has strict controls and is obliged to check spore protection. It's a ghost town, without a single ordinary soul there.

The Beholder entity is the most dangerous entity. It appears as a tall, black humanoid creature with a white face and black eyes. The Beholder can delete anything from the simulation, and can delete or restart it. The Beholder moves in quick bursts; it walks slowly when it doesn't see anomalies in the simulation. If it does notice, it begins to smile broadly, with a black mouth. This isn't aggression, but a sign that the Beholder has noticed an anomaly and intends to destroy it. There are no weapons against it; at most, it doesn't move when it's being looked at. Blinking almost always results in instant death, as the Beholder attacks them. The Beholder is the simulation's "stopcock." Its function is to delete anything that causes critical errors in the simulation. It doesn't know exactly what, so it deletes everything.

Herald functions: The Herald isn't just another creature; it's the most valuable asset K.O.N.T.U.R. has a 5% to 12% chance of appearing, and the Herald can be used to change the nature of future simulations. The most valuable videos are only three featuring the Herald, as nothing else is known about the Herald. The Herald disappears when approached or stared at for too long. The Herald collects information to infect your apartment; contact is prohibited. The viewer has a slightly longer memory than Mimics, so the chance of them forgetting the anomaly is 35% and not appearing again.

The fungus has developed an interest in animals, so it began to take over meat warehouses and literally animate meat and animal carcasses. Some animal carcasses fuse, creating a Flesh—a creature composed of two or three animals, possessing multiple animal heads, capable of running at speeds of up to 70 km/h, reacting to noise and movement, immune to vinegar, and capable of being killed with a service weapon. The Flesh can even be aggressive toward mimic salespeople at the facility, mistaking them for real people. This leads the organization to conclude that the fungus isn't so intelligent that even its creations are capable of conflict.

All creatures appear EXCLUSIVELY in the simulation; even in an infected apartment, they are absent outside the simulation, with the exception of the Herald and the Overseer. Even if the apartment is infected, the person is relatively safe. Upon entering the simulation, a person has three possible outcomes:

1. If you panic and try to break the simulation, you will die.
2. if you actually pretend to be an object, the simulation will forget and possibly die.
3. continue to behave as usual - the simulation may mistake you for a local and everything will be fine.
   Why should K.O.N.T.U.R.A.'s assistance be ruled out? The organization won't help; the apartment, along with the person inside the simulation, will simply become a research object.
   More creatures:
   The Herald is a tall, white humanoid creature, dressed in a floor-length white garment, with black eyes and a black, wide-open mouth. It appears in an apartment when it is already sufficiently infested or when the fungus is actively growing. It can be seen on cameras or with the naked eye, but disappears when noticed. It doesn't move, simply standing for no more than four minutes. It is essentially the fungus's physical "eye." It has a 12% chance of appearing physically, and can be used to influence the future nature of the future simulation. It disappears when someone approaches or if you stare at it for too long. It is not dangerous, even helpful, but the best thing to do is ignore it, to prevent it from becoming aggressive.

Fungal anomalies are animated objects and other anomalies on objects. These can include mouths on the wall, a face in an electric meter, a silhouette in a mirror, a fake animal on a rug, or distorted portraits or paintings. This occurs because the fungus cannot properly map space.

Elvish are large creatures (but extremely rare), sometimes larger than a multi-story building, black, and composed of numerous large tentacles. The only way to combat them is to reach their center and douse it with vinegar. Elvish have great sensitivity and loud roars, but are slow due to their size. Sometimes, their structure can resemble a humanoid.

The story takes place in the USSR, so the technology is still mundane, but K.O.N.T.U.R. has managed to advance chemical technology somewhat. A new, unnamed drug has emerged, created by the alchemist Sergei Pavlovich at an experimental center. This drug can stop the infection and the destruction of the infected person's personality during the first and second stages of infection. A sealed protective suit has been created for infected patients whose limbs have already elongated. The suit is placed on the patient, and with this drug, the subject stops progressing.
The O-41 fungus also evolved—a spore-forming substrate appeared, which appears as a black, oily liquid. If dislodged, it produces severe mutations. The substrate should not be touched or drunk, or even occasionally smelled if the odor is too strong. O-41 parasites appeared—they can appear as small, black substances with the consistency of worms. The substrate can easily be found in food, but it should not be eaten or drunk; it is best to eat only dry food. Infected people have become more communicative, able to answer questions from their own perspective, rather than from the fungus in their brain. K. O. N. T. U. R. A. centers always look like emergency blue hospitals with hidden experimental basements, or like emergency departments.
New entities:
Proval is an entity that disguises itself as the interior of an inhabited apartment and operates only at night.
Unknown - a creature as tall as the ceiling, completely black, has up to 6 outstretched arms, sometimes 4, it appears at the end of the corridor in new observed objects (apartments), K. O. N. T. U. R observed the creature only 2 times.
Although the K.O.N.T.U.R.A workers joke and interact like normal people in the videos, everyone is actually terrified. The organization even created educational cartoons for children about this nightmare, which are shown on television.

K.O.N.T.U.R. is not a military army in its purest form, but rather a state corporation for dealing with the apocalypse.
Hierarchy: There is a central office (the Council of Ministers) and regional branches. For example, the Chelyabinsk branch handled the case of a teacher.
· Staff:
· Heavy Groups: Assault squads to eliminate breakthroughs.
· Protocol Operators: Technicians who sit in concierge booths or headquarters, monitoring cameras and maintaining records (they are often the first to be targeted).
Training Facilities: The organization uses infested buildings to train new recruits. One of the prefabricated buildings is designated a "Training Facility." Recruits are sent into areas where all types of threats are present (Snout, Mimics, Skinners, and Worms on the 6th floor) and tested to see if they can survive while adhering to protocol.
The organization has specific means of struggle:
Iodine-Resorcinol-A Solution: A chemical compound with a pungent odor that is repulsive to those infected. It is used to treat the walls of sewers and basements to inhibit the spread of fungus.
· Sporinol: A drug (presumably an anti-spore drug) found in packs in the lairs of the infected, who drag it there in an attempt to dull the pain of transformation.
Rope: Lifeline. The instructions for fighting the Queue entity say to secure the rope at a right angle to the window. The Queue, being a heavy "centipede," cannot bend over a 90-degree edge. The rope is the only way to escape the ring of closing bodies.
Rules of Survival (Summary)
To survive in the world of K.O.N.T.U.R., you need to learn:

1. Don't look in mirrors (Glass Beads will appear).
2. If you see a queue, stand at the end and move with them, do not look at the backs of the heads of those standing in front for more than 10 seconds.
3. If the teacher starts making loops and bulging his eyes during class, call the emergency services and don't be left alone with him (the "Anxiety" syndrome is activated by a look).
4. Don't bypass the Hoot - it's a trap that leads deeper.

The fungus affects not only buildings but also people. The process of human transformation is called spore syndrome.
Stages of human infection:

1. Behavioral changes: The person becomes strange.
2. Physiological changes: Sudden weight loss, vacant stare. Key symptoms include an unnatural smile and exophthalmos. Sharp swings from apathy to hysterical laughter are noted.
3. Aggression: This is the moment when the infected person realizes they've been noticed by normal people. They experience a sudden surge of anxiety and targeted aggression. They don't just hunt—they panic and attack the bystander.
4. Outcome: The infected person goes to live in the wall. Evgeny disappeared from the apartment after his breakdown.
   Types of infected creatures:
   Inside the simulation live not just sick people, but Entities – the offspring of the fungus.
5. Skinners: These are likely humans in the late stages of merging with the fungus. They form entire zones in basements, a kind of incubator.
6. Glass Beads: Entities that live in mirrors. You can't look into mirrors.
7. The Snout: An entity that appears on CCTV cameras at a specific time. It can be driven away by closing a special door in the building's entrance.
8. Mimics: Entities that disguise themselves as objects or people. Found on random floors.
9. Gabar: Filler Hunter. Appears as an elongated figure with tentacles. Appears in areas where there has been a lot of child activity, feeding on emotions.
10. Queue: A collective entity. This is a group of people stitched together by a fungus into a living chain. They move in sync. It is dangerous to try to overtake them or break them apart.
11. The Beep: A trap-like entity that constructs its body from old telephones. It uses the sound of a beep to lure people deeper into the simulation.
12. The Sewer Beast is a 4-meter-tall, bony, and completely black entity with elongated limbs, black hair, a wide mouth, and three white eyes. It primarily growls and moves on all fours, is fast and strong, and loses interest in anything that doesn't move. It hates vinegar.

If a person enters an Anomalous Object (or even just an infected apartment), the fungus creates a Simulation. This is a key concept of the universe.

· Mechanism: The simulation is an anomalous, distorted copy of a real place. It uses the building's memories and cultural code to create a believable environment.
· Simulation weapon: Entities are born inside it, there are endless labyrinths.
Each simulation has its own survival instructions; without them, a person will either die immediately or become part of the fungal environment or system.
Fungus doesn't feed in the traditional sense; it grows in a material or substance through its environment, particularly proliferating in concrete, tile, or wood. Infected people or animals seek out food containing fungal particles. The best weapons against fungus are vinegar, which is distributed to all citizens once a week, chemicals, service weapons, or chemical gas. Infected people are kept in quarantine hospitals, where they are treated for the fungus.
The most important thing is that entities appear EXCLUSIVELY in simulations, but there is a significant exception: the Herald entity. It collects information and is essentially the fungus's "eye." It doesn't move, lasts no more than four minutes, and then disappears or dissolves into the wall or floor. Any attempt to contact it or to stare at it for too long causes it to vanish. The Herald gathers information through observation, and through it, the nature of the simulation emerges. If it is ignored completely, the simulation may not even occur.
And the exception is the Overseer entity—it can delete any living being in the simulation, the simulation itself, or restart it. It's effectively an error-fixing officer; you have to watch it constantly, as it moves too quickly, and if you blink, there's a 90% chance it will disappear or die. When aggressive, the Overseer smiles broadly; this isn't exactly aggression, but rather a sign that the Overseer has spotted an error and is hunting. It doesn't move when watched.

The main antagonist of this world is the O-41 fungus. It's not just a mold, it's an intelligent pathogen with a will.
Material contamination: O-41 can penetrate inorganic structures such as concrete, treated wood, asphalt, and steel. Think of it as rust that thinks and grows at the speed of a fire.
· Articulation: When the fungus completely takes over a building (an abandoned research institute, a residential building, a hospital), the process of "Articulation" begins. The building ceases to be just a pile of stones. It becomes an "Anomalous Object"—a single living organism, where the walls breathe spores and the layout changes minute by minute.
The fungus also likes to spread small parts to infect people, animals, and structures, in addition to grounding—small balls that can look like intertwined purple tendrils, a floating gray cloud, a black speck, or slime that independently selects a target or a place to latch on. The fungus can attack in various ways—airborne, through contaminated food/objects/medications, or infected people, settling on surfaces, and other means. Within a couple of days, the fungus takes over a person's body and mind, devouring their brain and distorting DNA and cells. This is why those infected are very creepy and are no longer human, but part of the fungus's system. The fungus is capable of creating simulations.

The history of the world begins in the depths of the Cold War. In 1976, at the secret research base ██████-█, an incident occurred that forever changed reality—contamination with O-41 material.
This was no ordinary biological experiment. O-41 (a fungus, mold, or substance) exhibited properties that defied the laws of physics: it penetrated concrete and steel not like corrosion, but as a kind of material transition. To contain the threat and prevent collapse, in 1978, the Special Council of Ministers of the USSR founded the organization K.O.N.T.U.R. Its mission: to conceal, study, and attempt to eliminate the consequences of contact with O-41, operating in complete secrecy from the civilian population. Now the cities of Taman-27 and Barkhan-9 are fighting against a biological monster that is viciously attacking all living and nonliving things.